yep. i helped my mother pick a new sewing machine after her old one died.

we went with Bernette B77. this was a few years ago - i just checked and it actually sells for more today than what we paid for it, and it makes sense because it felt like a steal when we got it.

Bernette is a consumer-level, made-in-Asia line of Bernina, which is the Gold Standard of Sewing machines and made in Switzerland.

Bernette is still designed by Bernina in Switzerland but is a mass market consumer product, rather than a boutique / professional product like Bernina ... i felt like with Bernette we got 80% of the design and features of Bernina for 20% of the price ! Honestly it was not a hard choice.

Another reason i decided to go with Bernette is because we bought it directly from a Bernina store, and our purchase included a free hands-on lesson going over all the features of the machine.

I have to say sewing machines are pretty fucking cool ! our B77 is 100% digital stepping motor based and controlled through a high resolution color touch screen, but the actual skills required to sew with it are 90% the same as what my mother learned as a teen on a Pedal-Powered Singer.

it even still has a pedal ! but the pedal only controls the speed of the machine, without actually powering it.